Abstract We present experimental and theoretical studies of the spectra of electrons backscattered from iron. The single surface and bulk excitation ratio in the energy range between 500 and 4000 eV are calculated. The contribution of single inelastically scattered electrons is derived from a dielectric response theory and from the experimental reflected electron energy spectra using different algorithms. We present surface excitation parameters in comparison with previous results as a function of the primary energy. Moreover, we show that our Monte Carlo simulations, using the corrected surface excitation parameters obtained experimentally, describe the reflected electron energy loss spectra in the investigated energy range reasonably well. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.